The PowerCranks Will Continue Until Morale Improves

In looking forward to cyclocross season (!), I've begun my Fall round of training. I've never done any cyclocross racing before, and my primary focus is glory in the upcoming spring road racing season. Nevertheless, racing cyclocross looks like a good way to stay fit and entertained this semester, and broaden my horizons.

At present, I don't have a cyclocross bike. I'll comment on that in a later post.

I'm resuming my training indoors, on the rollers, using the PowerCranks, effective this morning. This begs the question, why bother riding inside when the weather is still quite nice? I offer these arguments.

1. Indoor riding affords me complete control of my environs. I can keep my heart rate and power within narrow windows, and not have to worry about abrupt events that interrupt my training.
2. 60 minutes of riding the PowerCranks feels like two hours of riding on the road. This is a useful property when time is limited.
3. When riding indoors, a mechanical has less chance of making me late for class at 0930.

After today's training session, and one last week, I've realized that the PowerCranks, once again, feel foreign. I've lost about 25-30% of my power on them, no doubt a result of incredibly poor training this summer. I should have most of my strength back in about 6 weeks, just in time for the first collegiate races! Of course, I'm trying to increase my strength and lose weight at the same time, which is tricky at best.

Cyclocross racing involves a fair amount of jumping on and off the bike, and running. By riding the PowerCranks, I'll be training additional muscle groups that can help in the non-cycling aspects of the race, as well as help me stay solid on the bike.

It's something of a gamble. We'll see how it goes.